As I have mentioned before, I teach at a Title 1 school; therefore we have an abundance of technology. 3 years ago we had a Smart Board purchasing frenzy. Any teacher who wanted a Smart Board received one. The team leader for my 7th grade team has been teaching for 27 years. He has been at our school for 15 teaching Science. He is a very strict but effective teacher. His CRCT scores, (our state test) are never below 95% pass rate. He decided to get a Smart Board along with the other 7th grade teachers. The Smart boards arrived in January for the second semester. He used the Smart board the remainder fo the year. The following school year, he had it removed from his classroom and return to the over head projector and markers. He complained the students were too dependent on technology and did not pay attention to his lecture any more. He would not give in to the abundance of resources that the smart board offers including simple things like watching brain pop videos or using the textbook resources of power points and lesson checks on each section. He is a prime example of refusing to move forward with technology. He still calculates his grades by hand instead of entering grades to the online grading program.
This teacher seems to be uncomfortable with new things. The previous teaching methods have proven to be effective so why change them? If he would take the time to play with and understand the computer grading program, he would see the reports and convenience of using it. The grading program can drop the lowest grade, show average scores on an assignment, print missing work reports, and so on. Obtaining this information by hand is a challenge. He displays characteristics that many veteran teachers do. He has taught one way for so long, that it is now troublesome to change. I think a support team to help the less technologically inclined would be a great help. Also, he needs to give into change and accept that there might be a better and more efficient way to teach.
I responded to Evonie http://evonie-rash.blogspot.com/2010/08/module-5.html and
Amanda http://educ7105.blogspot.com/2010/08/module-five.html#comments
